Methods and apparatus to generate and manage workload domains in virtual server racks

ABSTRACT

Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture are disclosed. An example apparatus includes a requirement translator to map a requirement to a hardware resource to execute an application in a workload domain, a cost calculator to calculate a cost for the hardware resource based on a demand for the hardware resource, an option generator to determine whether the cost exceeds a cost budget, and a resource allocator to add the hardware resource to the workload domain when the cost does not exceed the cost budget.

This patent claims the benefit of the filing date of U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application Ser. No. 62/510,253 filed on May 23, 2017 and whichis incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

This disclosure relates generally to cloud computing and, moreparticularly, to methods and apparatus to generate and manage workloaddomains in virtual server racks.

BACKGROUND

The virtualization of computer systems provides numerous benefits suchas the execution of multiple computer systems on a single hardwarecomputer, the replication of computer systems, the extension of computersystems across multiple hardware computers, etc.“Infrastructure-as-a-Service” (also commonly referred to as “IaaS”)generally describes a suite of technologies provided by a serviceprovider as an integrated solution to allow for elastic creation of avirtualized, networked, and pooled computing platform (sometimesreferred to as a “cloud computing platform”). Enterprises may use IaaSas a business-internal organizational cloud computing platform(sometimes referred to as a “private cloud”) that gives an applicationdeveloper access to infrastructure resources, such as virtualizedservers, storage, and networking resources. By providing ready access tothe hardware resources required to run an application, the cloudcomputing platform enables developers to build, deploy, and manage thelifecycle of a web application (or any other type of networkedapplication) at a greater scale and at a faster pace than ever before.

Cloud computing environments may be composed of many processing units(e.g., servers). The processing units may be installed in standardizedframes, known as racks, which provide efficient use of floor space byallowing the processing units to be stacked vertically. The racks mayadditionally include other components of a cloud computing environmentsuch as storage devices, networking devices (e.g., switches), etc.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an example system that may be used to deploy virtual rackservers for use in examples disclosed herein to generate and manageworkload domains in such virtual server racks.

FIG. 2 is an example block diagram of the example requirement manager ofFIG. 1 that can be implemented in accordance with the teachings of thisdisclosure.

FIG. 3 is an example block diagram of the example workload domainmanager of FIG. 1 that can be implemented in accordance with theteachings of this disclosure.

FIG. 4 is an example block diagram of the example hardware manager ofFIG. 1 that can be implemented in accordance with the teachings of thisdisclosure.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram representative of example computer readableinstructions that may be executed to implement the example requirementmanager of FIGS. 1-2, the example workload domain manager of FIGS. 1 and3, and the example hardware manager of FIGS. 1 and 4 to generate anddeploy a workload domain in virtual server racks.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram representative of example computer readableinstructions that may be executed to implement the example workloaddomain manager of FIGS. 1 and 3, and the example hardware manager ofFIGS. 1 and 4 to calculate a hardware resource cost of a workload domainin virtual server racks.

FIG. 7 is a flow diagram representative of example computer readableinstructions that may be executed to implement the example hardwaremanager of FIGS. 1 and 4 to manage a workload domain in virtual serverracks.

FIG. 8 is an example processor platform capable of executing the examplecomputer readable instructions represented by FIG. 5 to implement theexample requirement manager of FIGS. 1-2 to generate and manage workloaddomains in virtual server racks in accordance with the teachings of thisdisclosure.

FIG. 9 is an example processor platform capable of executing the examplecomputer readable instructions represented by FIGS. 5-6 to implement theexample workload domain manager of FIGS. 1 and 3 to generate and manageworkload domains in virtual server racks in accordance with theteachings of this disclosure.

FIG. 10 is an example processor platform capable of executing theexample computer readable instructions represented by FIGS. 5-7 toimplement the example hardware manager of FIGS. 1 and 4 to generate andmanage workload domains in virtual server racks in accordance with theteachings of this disclosure.

The figures are not to scale. Wherever possible, the same referencenumbers will be used throughout the drawing(s) and accompanying writtendescription to refer to the same or like parts.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Cloud computing is based on the deployment of many physical resourcesacross a network, virtualizing the physical resources into virtualresources, and provisioning the virtual resources for use across cloudcomputing services and applications. Example systems for virtualizingcomputer systems are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/198,914, entitled “HARDWARE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS FOR DISAGGREGATED RACKARCHITECTURES IN VIRTUAL SERVER RACK DEPLOYMENTS,” filed Jun. 30, 2016,and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/280,348, entitled “METHODS ANDAPPARATUS TO DEPLOY WORKLOAD DOMAINS IN VIRTUAL SERVER RACKS,” filedSep. 29, 2016, which are hereby incorporated by reference herein intheir entireties.

When starting up a cloud computing environment or adding resources to analready established cloud computing environment, data center operatorsstruggle to offer cost-effective services while making resources of theinfrastructure (e.g., storage hardware, computing hardware, andnetworking hardware) work together to achieve simplifiedinstallation/operation and optimize the resources for improvedperformance. Prior techniques for establishing and maintaining datacenters to provide cloud computing services often require customers tounderstand details and configurations of hardware resources to establishworkload domains in which to execute customer services. In examplesdisclosed herein, workload domains are mapped to a management domaindeployment (e.g., a cluster of hosts managed by a vSphere managementproduct developed and provided by VMware, Inc.) in a single rackdeployment in a manner that is relatively easier to understand andoperate by users (e.g., clients, customers, etc.) than prior techniques.In this manner, as additional racks are added to a system, cross-rackclusters become an option. This enables creating more complexconfigurations for workload domains as there are more options fordeployment as well as additional management domain capabilities that canbe leveraged. Examples disclosed herein facilitate making workloaddomain configuration and management easier than prior techniques.

A management domain is a group of physical machines and virtual machines(VM) that host core cloud infrastructure components necessary formanaging a software defined data center (SDDC) in a cloud computingenvironment that supports customer services. Cloud computing allowsubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool ofconfigurable computing resources (e.g., a pool of hardware resources,etc.). A cloud computing customer can request allocations of suchresources to support services required by those customers. For example,when a customer requests to run one or more services in the cloudcomputing environment, one or more workload domains may be created basedon resources in the shared pool of configurable computing resources.Examples disclosed herein enable customers to define different domaintypes, security, machine learning, capacity, availability, andperformance requirements for establishing workload domains in serverrack deployments without requiring the users to have in-depth knowledgeof server rack hardware and/or configurations.

As used herein, availability refers to the level of redundancy requiredto provide continuous operation expected for the workload domain. Asused herein, performance refers to the computer processing unit (CPU)operating speeds (e.g., CPU gigahertz (GHz)), memory (e.g., gigabytes(GB) of random access memory (RAM)), mass storage (e.g., GB hard drivedisk (HDD), GB solid state drive (SSD), etc.), and power capabilities ofa workload domain. As used herein, capacity refers to the aggregatenumber of resources (e.g., aggregate storage, aggregate CPU, aggregaterespective hardware accelerators (e.g., field programmable gate arrays(FPGAs), graphic processing units (GPUs)), etc.) across all serversassociated with a cluster and/or a workload domain. In examplesdisclosed herein, the number of resources (e.g., capacity) for aworkload domain is determined based on the redundancy, the CPU operatingspeed, the memory, the storage, the security, and/or the powerrequirements selected by a user. For example, more resources arerequired for a workload domain as the user-selected requirementsincrease (e.g., higher redundancy, CPU speed, memory, storage, security,and/or power options require more resources than lower redundancy, CPUspeed, memory, storage, security, and/or power options). In someexamples, resources are computing devices with set amounts of storage,memory, CPUs, etc. In some examples, resources are individual devices(e.g., hard drives, processors, memory chips, etc.).

Examples disclosed herein support numerous options and configurationcapabilities for deploying workload domains. For example, numerousoptions for domain type, security, machine learning, availability,performance, capacity, etc., are supported for configuring workloaddomains. In addition, examples disclosed herein can support any numberof user-requested capacities for workload domains. That is, examplesdisclosed herein may be implemented to inform a user of user-selectablecapacities that may be used for configuring workload domains inparticular rack deployments. In this manner, users' selections ofcapacities are based on capacities useable for configuring workloaddomains in particular rack deployments. That is, users are betterinformed of capacity capabilities of rack deployments to avoid confusionand incorrect parameters during workload domain configuration andmanagement.

Examples disclosed herein enable deploying workload domains usingoptimal or highly suitable configurations that meet user-requesteddomain type, security, capacity, availability, performance, etc.,configurations. In addition, examples disclosed herein enable generatingexpandable workload domains that maintain initial user-requested domaintype, security, capacity, availability, and performance requirementsuntil users request modifications to such initial user-requestedcapabilities and/or until changed operating conditions dictate that suchmodifications are appropriate. In addition, examples disclosed hereinenable contractible workload domains to reduce allocated resources tothe workload domain to dynamically reduce cost and/or optimize adeployed workload domain while still maintaining initial user-requesteddomain type, security, capacity, availability, performance, etc.,requirements.

Examples disclosed herein obtain requirements of an application and mapthe requirements to one or more hardware resources to execute theapplication. For example, the application requirements may be translatedinto a quantification of central processing unit (CPU) processing ingigahertz, a number and/or a type of storage resources, a storageinterconnect type, etc. In some disclosed examples, a cost (e.g., amonetary cost, etc.) of the mapped hardware resources is calculatedbased on weight factors corresponding to each type of hardware resource.As used herein, the term “weight factor” refers to a scaling factorcorresponding to a demand for a hardware resource. For example, a largerweight factor may correspond to a more in-demand hardware resourcecompared to a smaller weight factor which may correspond to a lessin-demand hardware resource. For example, each storage option (e.g., ahard-disk drive option, a solid-state drive option, etc.) has acorresponding weight factor. In such an example, a cost for each storageresource type may be calculated based on multiplying a number of storageresources (e.g., a number of hard-disk drives, a number of solid-statedrives, etc.), a storage resource unit cost, and the correspondingweight factor (e.g., 100 hard disk drives×$45 unit cost×1.83 weightingfactor=$8,235 cost). In such disclosed examples, a total cost isdetermined by calculating a sum of the individual costs. For example, atotal cost of the mapped hardware resources may be a sum of the CPUprocessing costs, the storage resource costs, the storage interconnectcosts, the FPGA utilization costs, the GPU utilization costs, etc.

In some disclosed examples, a weight factor is adjusted or scaled basedon calculating one or more availability metrics. In such disclosedexamples, available resources are discovered or polled to calculate oneor more availability metrics (e.g., a percentage of storage capacityavailable, a number of graphic processing units available, etc.). Theweight factor may be adjusted higher or lower based on the availabilitymetrics. A higher weight factor corresponding to a hardware resourcemeans that there is an increased demand for the hardware resource, and alower weight factor corresponding to the hardware resource means thatthere is a decreased demand for the hardware resource. For example, aweight factor of two may be assigned to a solid-state drive option whenbetween 50-60% of the solid-state drive capacity has been allocated, aweight factor of four may be assigned to the solid-state drive optionwhen between 80-90% of the solid-state drive capacity has beenallocated, etc. In such an example, the solid-state drive option weightfactor may be adjusted from a two to a four based on (1) calculating thesolid-state drive capacity to be 85% allocated, (2) comparing the 85%solid-state drive capacity allocation to a solid-state drive capacityallocation threshold of 80%, and (3) determining that the 85%solid-state drive capacity allocation is greater than the solid-statedrive capacity allocation threshold of 80%. Additionally oralternatively, the weight factor may be adjusted based on analyzing anumber of available hardware resources such as analyzing a number ofavailable solid-state drives.

In some disclosed examples, a hardware configuration is optimized anddeployed based on demand, supply, and status of hardware resources inone or more hardware resource pools. The deployed hardware configurationenables a right-sized virtualized server to execute the application. Asused herein, the term “right-sized virtualized server” refers to avirtualized server corresponding to an optimal configuration of hardwareresources that can execute an application based on one or morerequirements such as capacity requirements, availability requirements,performance requirements, etc. In some disclosed examples, an optimalconfiguration includes a minimum quantity and/or number of types ofhardware resources, a quantity and/or number of types of hardwareresources that minimize a cost budget, etc. In some disclosed examples,a hardware configuration may be deployed and leased for a specifiedperiod of time with an option to extend either for the same cost, ahigher or lower cost due to a market condition (e.g., a higher cost iscalculated due to an increased demand of a hardware resource type,etc.), a lower cost due to shifting application execution to an off-peaktime period, etc.

In some disclosed examples, a deployed workload domain is monitored fora change in status of a hardware resource. For example, a firstsolid-state drive allocated to the workload domain may be determined tobe non-responsive (e.g., non-operational, not responding to a command ora request, etc.). In such an example, the first solid-state drive may bedeallocated from the workload domain and a second solid-state drive(e.g., a hardware resource of the same hardware resource type of thefirst solid-state drive, etc.) that satisfies the original deploymentrequirements is allocated to the workload domain in place of the firstsolid-state drive.

In some disclosed examples, an efficiency of the deployed workloaddomain is monitored. In such disclosed examples, one or more efficiencymetrics are calculated to determine how efficiently the deployedworkload domain is using allocated hardware resources to execute anapplication based on one or more requirements (e.g., cost requirements,performance requirements, user requirements, etc.). For example, aloading of the allocated CPU processing resources may be calculated, apercentage of storage availability may be calculated, a storageinterconnect latency may be calculated, etc. In such disclosed examples,the deployed workload domain may expand or contract based on thecalculated efficiency metrics. For example, additional storage may beallocated to the workload domain if a storage availability percentage iscompared to a threshold and the storage availability percentagesatisfies the threshold (e.g., the storage availability percentage isless than 5%, 15%, 25%, etc.).

In such disclosed examples, the deployed workload domain can downgrade(e.g., the deployed workload domain contracts, etc.) or upgrade (e.g.,the deployed workload domain expands, etc.) in performance based on thecalculated efficiency metrics. For example, a storage interconnect maybe upgraded from Ethernet to a non-volatile memory express storageinterconnect due to a storage interconnect latency satisfying athreshold (e.g., a storage interconnect latency is greater than 10microseconds, 100 microseconds, etc.). In such an example, the storageinterconnect may be upgraded based on determining that the storageinterconnect latency is greater than a threshold of 10 microseconds. Insome disclosed examples, a threshold is determined based on the userrequirements. For example, a user may select a requirement correspondingto a high performance of application execution, and the requirement ismapped to a threshold (e.g., a high-performance requirement is mapped toa storage interconnect latency threshold of 10 microseconds, etc.).

FIG. 1 is an example system that may be used to deploy virtual rackservers for use in examples disclosed herein to generate and manageworkload domains in such virtual server racks. In the illustratedexample, an example workload generation and deployment architecture 100includes an example requirement manager 102, an example requirementtranslator 104, an example workload domain manager 110, an exampleresource demand analyzer 112, an example hardware manager 120, anexample resource discoverer 122, and an example resource allocator 124.Further shown are an example compute node A 130, an example compute nodeB 132, an example compute node C 134, an example compute node D 136, andan example compute node E 138.

Further shown is a hard-disk drive (HDD) storage pool 140, whichincludes first, second, and third HDD storage sets 142, 144, 146.Further shown is a flash storage pool 150, which includes first, second,and third flash storage sets 152, 154, 156. The flash storage pool 150may be implemented using solid-state drives, solid-state memory (e.g.,memory using Intel® Optane™ technology, etc.). Further shown is agraphics processing unit (GPU) pool 160, which includes first, second,and third GPU sets 162, 164, 166. In some examples, GPU units in the GPUpool 160 can be used for machine-learning applications. Additionally oralternatively, any other number and/or type of pooled hardware resourcesused for acceleration, purposed infrastructure, etc., may be used suchas field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), security devices (e.g.,processors executing security decryption, encryption, monitoringservices, etc.), etc.

An interface between a compute node and pooled hardware may be aperipheral component interconnect express (PCIe) interface, a serialattached SCSI (SAS) interface, a non-volatile memory express (NVMe)interface, a NVMe interface over fiber-optic communication interface,Ethernet (e.g., 10/25/100 gigabits per second Ethernet, etc.), etc.,and/or any combination thereof. Additionally or alternatively, any othertype of hardware interface may be used. For example, the interfacebetween the compute node A 130 and the first HDD storage set 142 may bea PCIe interface. In another or the same example, the interface betweenthe compute node A 130 and the first flash storage set 152 may be anNVMe interface. In yet another or the same example, the interfacebetween the compute node B 132 and the second flash storage set 154 maybe an Ethernet interface while the interface between the compute node C134 and the third flash storage set 156 may be an NVMe interface.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the requirement manager 102communicates with a user interface (e.g., a graphical user interfaceand/or a command line interface of a webpage, application, and/orterminal interface) to present options to a user, receive selections ofsuch options from the user, and map the selections to hardwareresources. For example, the requirement manager 102 may presentavailability options, performance options, and/or capacity options for aworkload domain to a user. The example requirement manager 102 maytranslate a user selection of the one or more options into userrequirements. In such an example, the requirement manager 102 maps theuser requirements into hardware resources. In some examples, therequirement manager 102 communicates with a database 180 to obtainrequirements. The example requirement manager 102 may translate theobtained requirements into one or more availability options, performanceoptions, and/or capacity options for a workload domain.

In some examples, the requirement manager 102 communicates an alertmessage to the user corresponding to an error (e.g., a messageindicating that a workload domain cannot be generated based on the userrequirements, etc.), a cost (e.g., a message indicating that a workloaddomain cannot be generated based on a cost budget, etc.), a detection ofa non-responsive component (e.g., a flash storage resource allocated tothe workload domain is non-operational, etc.), etc.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the requirement manager 102includes the requirement translator 104 to map user requirements intohardware resources. For example, the requirement translator 104 may mapavailability options, performance options, and/or capacity options tohardware resources such as resources in the HDD storage pool 140, theflash storage pool 150, the GPU pool 160, etc. In such examples, therequirement translator 104 may map a performance requirement to hardwareresources such as CPUs, memory, mass storage, etc. In some examples, therequirement translator 104 creates, updates, or deletes requirementsafter a workload domain has been deployed due to a change inrequirements by the user.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the workload domain manager 110analyzes a demand for hardware resources, generates option(s) forpotential workload domains, ranks the generated option(s), and analyzeserrors due to generating the option(s). For example, the workload domainmanager 110 may discover available resources in the HDD storage pool140, the flash storage pool 150, the GPU pool 160, etc. Additionally oralternatively, the workload domain manager 110 may discover any otheravailable resources not illustrated in FIG. 1. The example workloaddomain manager 110 may generate one or more options based on the userrequirements and the available resources. In response to generating theone or more options, the example workload domain manager 110 may rankthe one or more options based on optimizing a configuration of hardwareresources to match the user requirements within a tolerance (e.g.,within a user-selected cost budget, etc.). In some examples, theworkload domain manager 110 analyzes an error that occurs when the oneor more options are generated, ranked, etc. For example, the workloaddomain manager 110 may determine that an error corresponding to aninability to generate a workload domain option is due to incompatibleuser requirements, an inappropriately-sized cost budget, etc.

In some examples, the workload domain manager 110 determines placementsolutions for workload domains within a shared pool of configurablecomputing resources (e.g., the HDD storage pool 140, the flash storagepool 150, etc.). In some examples, the workload domain manager 110determines what resources to allocate for workload domains based on theavailability, performance, and capacity options selected by a user. Insome examples, the workload domain manager 110 determines one or moreplacement solutions for one or more workload domains (e.g., from one ormore users, etc.) concurrently, simultaneously, or substantiallysimultaneously. In such examples, the workload domain manager 110communicates with the hardware manager 120 to request/receive a mostrecent list of accessible or available resources from the shared pool ofconfigurable computing resources 140, 150, 160 prior to determining aplacement solution. In some examples, the workload domain manager 110requests the most recent list of resources to prevent allocatingresources that have been allocated to another workload domain (e.g., afirst workload domain is to have a first set of resources and a secondworkload domain is to have a second set of resources different from thefirst set of resources, etc.). Various placement solutions may be usedincluding, selecting the least number of resources required to satisfythe capacity requirements, selecting one more than the least number ofresources required to satisfy the capacity requirements, etc.

Once the example workload domain manager 110 has a most recent list ofaccessible resources, the workload domain manager 110 determines aplacement solution for a workload domain using the most recent list ofaccessible resources based on the availability, performance, and/orcapacity options selected by a user. For example, if a user selects amulti-rack option, the workload domain manager 110 determines aplacement solution in a virtual server rack across a plurality ofphysical racks (e.g., allocate resources across five different racks).In such an example, the workload domain manager 110 may allocate oneresource per rack. Alternatively, the example workload domain manager110 may allocate all the resources of a first rack before moving to thenext rack. In some examples, if a user selects a single-rack option, theworkload domain manager 110 determines a vertical placement solution ina single physical rack (e.g., fill a single rack with one or moreplacement solutions, etc.). In some examples, a networking bandwidthwithin or across racks is a factor in determining the one or moreplacement solutions. For example, the resources in the first rack may beutilized instead of resources in a second rack due to a highernetworking bandwidth in the first rack compared to a lower networkingbandwidth in the second rack.

In the illustrated example, the workload domain manager 110 communicateswith the hardware manager 120 to reserve the hardware resourcesassociated with the placement solution. In some examples, after thehardware resources are reserved, the hardware manager 120 deploys theworkload domain with the reserved hardware resources based on theuser-selected availability, performance, and/or capacity options. Forexample, the hardware manager 120 may allocate the reserved hardwareresources to the workload domain to execute the application.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the workload domain manager 110includes the resource demand analyzer 112 to calculate resourceavailability metrics based on discovered available hardware resources.As used herein, the term “available hardware resources” refers to ahardware resource such as a CPU, a solid-state drive, a GPU, etc., thatis available to be allocated to a new workload domain due to thehardware resource not being allocated to an existing workload domain.For example, the resource demand analyzer 112 may calculate a resourceavailability metric such as a percentage of available memory resources(e.g., an available number of RAM GB with respect to a total number ofRAM GB, etc.), a percentage of available mass storage resources (e.g.,an available number of SSD GB with respect to a total number of SSD GB,etc.), etc. In some examples, the resource demand analyzer 112calculates a weight factor, adjusts a weight factor, etc., based on thecalculated resource availability metrics. Alternatively, the exampleresource demand analyzer 112 may calculate the weight factor, adjust theweight factor, etc., based on any other type of factor such ashistorical data, a time of day, etc.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the hardware manager 120 reserveshardware resources associated with a placement solution for a workloaddomain. In some examples, after the resources are reserved, the hardwaremanager 120 deploys the workload domain with the reserved resourcesbased on the user requirements.

In the illustrated example, the hardware manager 120 reserves resourcesfrom the shared pool of configurable computing resources based onplacement solutions determined by the workload domain manager 110. Insome examples, the hardware manager 120 allocates resources to and/orde-allocates resources from a workload domain. In some examples, thehardware manager 120 allocates and/or de-allocates resources betweenworkload domains. In some such examples, the hardware manager 120determines whether one or more workload domains can provide resourcecapacity requested by another workload domain and/or whether oneworkload domain can provide resource capacity requested by one or moreworkload domains. In some examples, the hardware manager 120 tracks thereservation, allocation, and/or de-allocation of resources by storinginformation associated with such reservation, allocation, and/orde-allocation of resources in the database 180.

In some examples, the hardware manager 120 discovers availableresources. For example, the hardware manager 120 may poll the HDDstorage pool 140, the flash storage pool 150, the GPU pool 160, etc., todetermine a number of available resources within each respective pool.In some examples, the hardware manager 120 allocates hardware resourcesto a deployed workload domain. In some examples, the hardware manager120 deallocates hardware resources from a deployed workload domain. Insome examples, the hardware manager 120 determines operational statusinformation of hardware resources. For example, the hardware manager 120may determine that a HDD resource in the first HDD storage set 142 isnon-responsive. In such an example, the hardware manager 120 maydeallocate the non-responsive HDD resource from the first HDD storageset 142 and allocate an available HDD resource from the HDD storage pool140 to the first HDD storage set 142.

In some examples, the hardware manager 120 finds configurationcomponents for virtualizing a physical rack and obtains configurationparameters that such configuration components need for thevirtualization process. In some examples, the hardware manager 120 callsthe configuration components with their corresponding configurationparameters and events. In such examples, the hardware manager 120obtains the configuration components with their correspondingconfiguration parameters and events from the database 180. In someexamples, the hardware manager 120 maps the configuration parameters touser interface properties of example configurations for use byadministrators to manage the virtual physical racks. In some examples,the hardware manager 120 implements configurator components that includeconfiguration logic for configuring virtualization components of anexample virtualization layer of one or more virtual servers.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the compute node A 130, thecompute node B 132, and the compute node C 134 represent processingsystems to execute an application with each compute node including oneor more CPUs to execute the application. In some examples, the computenodes interface with additional hardware resources. For example, thecompute node A 130 interfaces with the first HDD storage set 142, thefirst flash storage set 152, and the first GPU set 162. In theillustrated example, the first HDD storage set 142 includes two HDDstorage units, the first flash storage set 152 includes three flashstorage units, and the first GPU set 162 includes one GPU unit, whereeach unit represents a single instance of a hardware resource. Forexample, the first HDD storage set 142 includes two individual HDDstorage devices. Alternatively, although only nine HDD storage units areshown in the HDD storage pool 140, there may be fewer or more than nineHDD storage units used. Alternatively, although only nine flash storageunits are shown in the flash storage pool 150, there may be fewer ormore than nine flash storage units used. Alternatively, although onlynine GPU units are shown in the GPU pool 160, there may be fewer or morethan nine GPU units used.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 1, the requirement manager 102obtains user requirements for executing an application, and maps theuser requirements to hardware resources via the requirement translator104. In the illustrated example, the workload domain manager 110generates and ranks workload domain options based on calculating one ormore availability metrics via the resource demand analyzer 112. In theillustrated example, the hardware manager 120 discovers availablehardware resources via the resource discoverer 122 and allocates theavailable hardware resources to deployed workload domains via theresource allocator 124. In the illustrated example, the hardware manager120 deploys a workload domain that includes the compute node A 130, thecompute node B 132, and the compute node C 134. In the illustratedexample, the hardware manager 120 analyzes a status of one or moreresources after the workload domain is deployed. In the illustratedexample, the hardware manager 120 determines that additional computenodes are necessary to execute the application in accordance with theuser requirements. For example, the hardware manager 120 expands theworkload domain by adding the compute node D 136 and the compute node E138 to the workload domain. Connecting lines for the example computenode D 136 and the example compute node E 138 are illustrated usingdashed lines to indicate that the compute node D 136 and the computenode E 138 are added after the workload domain is deployed, while thecompute node A 130, the compute node B 132, and the compute node C 134are added during an initial deployment of the workload domain.

The example database 180 stores information regarding the status of theshared pool of configurable resources such as for example, resourcesallocated from the shared pool of configurable resources to workloaddomains and/or resources de-allocated from workload domains to theshared pool of configurable computing resources 140, 150, 160. In someexamples, the requirement manager 102 stores user-selected requirements,default options for workload domains, etc., in the database 180. In someexamples, the workload domain manager 110 reads such status informationfor a most recent list of available resources prior to determining aplacement solution. In some examples, the hardware manager 120 stores anoperational status (e.g., an active status, a non-responsive status,etc.) of one or more hardware resources in the database 180. The exampledatabase 180 may be implemented by a volatile memory (e.g., aSynchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), a Dynamic RandomAccess Memory (DRAM), a RAMBUS Dynamic Random Access Memory (RDRAM),etc.), one or more double data rate (DDR) memories, such as DDR, DDR2,DDR3, DDR4, mobile DDR (mDDR), etc., and/or a non-volatile memory (e.g.,flash memory). The example database 180 may additionally oralternatively be implemented by one or more double data rate (DDR)memories, such as DDR, DDR2, DDR3, DDR4, mobile DDR (mDDR), etc. Theexample database 180 may additionally or alternatively be implemented byone or more mass storage devices such as hard disk drive(s), compactdisk drive(s), digital versatile disk drive(s), solid-state diskdrive(s), etc. While in the illustrated example the database 180 isillustrated as a single database, the database 180 may be implemented byany number and/or type(s) of databases. Furthermore, the data stored inthe example database 180 may be in any data format such as, for example,binary data, comma delimited data, tab delimited data, structured querylanguage (SQL) structures, etc.

FIG. 2 is an example block diagram of the example requirement manager102 of FIG. 1 that can be implemented in accordance with the teachingsof this disclosure. In the illustrated example of FIG. 2, therequirement manager 102 includes the example requirement translator 104of FIG. 1, an example user interface 200, and an example alert generator210.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 2, the requirement manager 102includes the requirement translator 104 to map requirements obtainedfrom a user to availability options, performance options, and/orcapacity options for a workload domain, where the workload domainmanager 110 of FIG. 1 generates the availability options, theperformance options, and/or the capacity options. In some examples, therequirement translator 104 creates, updates, and/or deletes one or morerequirements based on the availability options, performance options,and/or capacity options selected by a user. In some examples, therequirement translator 104 maps user requirements to availabilityoptions and/or performance options for a workload domain based on auser-selected workload domain type.

As disclosed herein, a user may select domain types such as, forexample, an IaaS domain type, a PaaS domain type, a DaaS/VDI domaintype, a development/test domain type, a production domain type, a CloudNative domain type, an Openstack domain type, a Big Data domain type, aMachine Learning domain type, etc. In some examples, different domaintypes may be associated with one or more predetermined availabilityand/or performance options. For example, the requirement translator 104may access a look-up-table stored in the database 180 of FIG. 1 fordefault availability and/or performance options associated with thedomain types described above.

Based on the user-selected availability option(s) and/or performanceoption(s), the example requirement translator 104 maps the userrequirements to one or more capacity option(s) capable of providing theuser-selected availability option(s) and/or performance option(s). Forexample, the requirement translator 104 may map the user-selectedcapacity option to a number of hardware resources needed to execute anapplication based on the user-selected availability option(s) and/orperformance option(s).

In some examples, the requirement translator 104 creates, updates,deletes, or otherwise modifies a previously mapped requirement based ona user request. For example, a user may want to increase capacity aftera workload domain has been deployed. In such examples, the requirementtranslator defines, updates, deletes, or otherwise modifies the one ormore requirements based on instructions received from the user (e.g.,through the user interface 200, etc.). Alternatively, the examplerequirement translator 104 may create, update, delete, or otherwisemodify a previously mapped requirement based on an automated execution(e.g., an automated process executing instructions based on a set ofconditions, rules, component and/or network statuses, etc.).

In some examples, the requirement translator 104 obtains pre-definedacceptable requirements (e.g., requirements acceptable to a user, userrequirements, etc.) from the database 180 of FIG. 1. In such examples orother examples, the pre-defined acceptable requirements are obtainedfrom a user that include ranges of values that are acceptable to theuser for a pre-determined amount of time. For example, the user mayselect a range of acceptable cost values for SSD hardware resourcesprior to initial deployment of a workload domain. After deployment ofthe workload domain, the example requirement translator 104 may map thepre-defined requirements to additional or fewer SSD hardware resourceswithin the constraints of the pre-defined requirements. In such anexample, the requirement translator 104 may map the pre-definedrequirements to hardware resources via an automated execution. Forexample, the requirement translator 104 may complete the mapping via theautomated execution.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 2, the requirement manager 102includes the user interface 200 to present one or more availabilityand/or performance options to a user for selection thereof. In someexamples, the user interface 200 presents the availability and/orperformance options to a user at a low level of detail (e.g., optionssuch as low redundancy, normal redundancy, high redundancy 1, highredundancy 2, low performance, normal performance, high performance,etc.), such that the user need not understand the physical resourcesrequired to provide such availability and/or performance. In someexamples, the user interface 200 presents the availability and/orperformance options at a high level of detail (e.g., sliding scalesrepresentative of a number of redundant resources, CPU operating speeds,memory, storage, etc.). In some examples, the user interface 200presents a number of capacity options to the user (e.g., four hardwareresources could provide the user-selected availability option(s)and/performance option(s), but five hardware resources would be better,etc.). In some examples, the user interface 200 directs anothercomponent to deploy a workload domain. For example, the user interface200 may prompt a user to select a workload domain option,recommendation, etc. In such an example, the requirement manager 102 maydirect the hardware manager 120 to deploy the user-selected workloaddomain option, recommendation, etc., when the user selects one of theworkload domain options, recommendations, etc. Alternatively, therequirement manager 102 may bypass the user interface 200 via one ormore automated executions.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 2, the requirement manager 102includes the alert generator 210 to generate and coordinate a display ofan alert to a user. In some examples, the user interface 200 presentsone capacity option to the user. In some examples, the workload domainmanager 110 determines no capacity options are available to the userbased on the selected availability option(s) and/or performanceoption(s). In such examples, the alert generator 210 generates an alertmessage indicating that there are no capacity options and directs theuser interface 200 to present the alert message to the user. In somesuch examples, the alert generator 210 generates an alert messageincluding recommendations to a user for adjusting the availabilityoption(s) and/or performance option(s) to make one or more capacityoptions available. In some such examples, the alert generator 210generates the alert messaged based on recommendations generated by theworkload domain manager 110. In some such examples, multiple workloaddomains share a finite pool of computation resources such that capacityoptions may become unavailable due to a lack of resources. However, asdisclosed herein, resources are allocated to different workload domainsand/or de-allocated from workload domains such that capacity options maybecome available for the user-selected availability option(s) and/orperformance option(s) at a later time. For example, the alert generator210 may generate an alert message indicating that one or moreuser-selected options are not available at a user-specified time, butwill be available at a later time (e.g., an off-peak time, etc.).

While an example manner of implementing the example requirement manager102 of FIG. 1 is illustrated in FIG. 2, one or more of the elements,processes and/or devices illustrated in FIG. 2 may be combined, divided,re-arranged, omitted, eliminated and/or implemented in any other way.Further, the example requirement translator 104, the example userinterface 200, the alert generator 210 and/or, more generally, theexample requirement manager 102 may be implemented by hardware,software, firmware and/or any combination of hardware, software and/orfirmware. Thus, for example, any of the example requirement translator104, the example user interface 200, the alert generator 210 and/or,more generally, the example requirement manager 102 could be implementedby one or more analog or digital circuit(s), logic circuits,programmable processor(s), application specific integrated circuit(s)(ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s)) and/or fieldprogrammable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)). When reading any of theapparatus or system claims of this patent to cover a purely softwareand/or firmware implementation, at least one of the example requirementtranslator 104, the example user interface 200, and/or the example alertgenerator 210 is/are hereby expressly defined to include anon-transitory computer readable storage device or storage disk such asa memory, a digital versatile disk (DVD), a compact disk (CD), a Blu-raydisk, etc. including the software and/or firmware. Further still, theexample requirement manager 102 of FIG. 1 may include one or moreelements, processes and/or devices in addition to, or instead of, thoseillustrated in FIG. 2, and/or may include more than one of any or all ofthe illustrated elements, processes and devices.

FIG. 3 is an example block diagram of the example workload domainmanager 110 of FIG. 1 that can be implemented in accordance with theteachings of this disclosure. In the illustrated example of FIG. 3, theworkload domain manager 110 includes the example resource demandanalyzer 112 of FIG. 1, an example option generator 300, an example costcalculator 310, an example option ranker 320, and an example erroranalyzer 330.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 3, the workload domain manager 110includes the resource demand analyzer 112 to calculate resourceavailability metrics based on discovered available hardware resources.For example, the resource demand analyzer 112 may calculate a resourceavailability metric such as a percentage of available GPU resources(e.g., an available number of GPUs with respect to a total number ofGPUs, etc.), a percentage of available processing resources (e.g., anavailable number of CPUs with respect to a total number of CPUs, etc.),etc.

In some examples, the resource demand analyzer 112 calculates a weightfactor, adjusts a weight factor, etc., based on the calculated resourceavailability metrics. For example, the resource demand analyzer 112 maycalculate a weight factor for a storage type such as SSD resources. Insuch an example, the resource demand analyzer 112 may calculate theweight factor for the SSD resources based on a number of SSD resourcesavailable in the flash storage pool 150 of FIG. 1. For example, a lowerweight factor for the SSD resources means that there are more availableSSD resources available to be assigned to a workload domain, and ahigher weight factor for the SSD resources means that there are feweravailable SSD resources available to be assigned to a workload domain.

In another example, the resource demand analyzer 112 may calculate theweight factor based on a percentage of available SSD resources. Forexample, a higher weight factor may correspond to a lower percentage ofavailable SSD resources, and a lower weight factor may correspond to ahigher percentage of available SSD resources. For example, a lowerpercentage of available SSD resources indicates an increased demand forSSD resources and, thus, a higher weight factor may be calculated basedon the increased demand to calculate a market-driven cost for the SSDs.For example, the resource demand analyzer 112 may compare the percentageto a threshold (e.g., the percentage is less than 10%, 20%, etc.). Forexample, the resource demand analyzer 112 may calculate the percentageof available SSD resources in the flash storage pool 150 to be 10%,which satisfies a 20% threshold by being less than 20% indicating thatthere is a high demand for SSD resources (e.g., because less than 20% ofSSD resources are available to be allocated). In response to thepercentage satisfying the threshold, the example resource demandanalyzer 112 may adjust the weight factor. In such an example wherethere is a high demand for a resource (e.g., an availability percentageless than 10%, 20%, etc.), the resource demand analyzer 112 may increasethe weight factor from a base value (e.g., a base value of one, etc.).In such an example where there is a low demand for a resource (e.g., anavailability percentage greater than 80%, 90%, etc.), the resourcedemand analyzer 112 may decrease the weight factor from the base value.

After the example resource demand analyzer 112 calculates the weightfactor, the resource demand analyzer 112 may adjust the weight factor ata later time to yield a new weight factor based on, for example,historical data, a time of day, etc. For example, the resource demandanalyzer 112 may adjust a weight factor based on historical data such astrend data (e.g., demand for hardware resources has increased inconsecutive days, over a time period, etc.), data corresponding to thesame time period on a different day, year, etc. In some examples, theresource demand analyzer 112 decreases the weight factor based on theuser specifying an execution time period that historically hasexperienced low demand for hardware resources. In other examples, theresource demand analyzer 112 increases a weight factor based on the userspecifying a peak execution time period (e.g., a peak time of day inwhich the user wants to execute an application, etc.) to execute theapplication.

In some examples, the resource demand analyzer 112 selects a hardwareresource type to process. For example, the resource demand analyzer 112may select the HDD storage pool 140, the flash storage pool 150, the GPUpool 160, etc., to process. In some examples, the resource demandanalyzer 112 determines whether there is another hardware resource typeto process. For example, the resource demand analyzer 112 may determinethat the flash storage pool 150 has yet to be processed.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 3, the workload domain manager 110includes the option generator 300 to generate one or more configurationsof hardware resources for a workload domain based on user requirementsand/or available hardware resources. For example, the option generator300 may obtain the user requirements, one or more weight factors, a listof available hardware resources, etc., and generate one or moreconfigurations of hardware resources. For example, the option generator300 may determine a configuration of hardware resources that includes anumber of CPUs to satisfy a user requirement for processing power. Inanother example, the option generator 300 may determine a number of HDDstorage resources, a number of flash storage resources, a number of GPUresources, etc., and/or a combination thereof to satisfy one or moreuser requirements.

In some examples, the option generator 300 generates a hardware resourceconfiguration to satisfy user requirements but does not maximize acorresponding cost budget. For example, the option generator 300 maydetermine one or more types of hardware resources, a number of hardwareresources for each hardware resource type, etc., that satisfies the userrequirements while leaving a portion of the cost budget unused.Alternatively, the option generator 300 may generate a hardware resourceconfiguration that uses the portion of the unused cost budget to addadditional hardware resources such as additional CPUs, GPUs, HDDs, SSDs,etc., and/or a combination thereof to minimize unused cost budget.

In some examples, the option generator 300 generates an option thatincludes two or more storage types to create a caching-tier. Forexample, the option generator 300 may generate a hardware configurationthat includes a HDD storage unit and a flash storage unit. In such anexample, the deployed workload domain may use the flash storage unit toexecute the application and use the HDD storage unit to store calculatedresults, information yet to be processed, etc. In such an example, theoption generator 300 may generate a caching-tier to satisfy auser-requirement for performance while reducing a total cost associatedwith using more expensive hardware resources for a longer period oftime.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 3, the workload domain manager 110includes the cost calculator 310 to calculate a cost (e.g., a monetarycost, a power cost (e.g., a number of kilowatts per hour consumed,etc.), etc.) of one or more hardware resources. In some examples, thecost calculator 310 calculates a cost of an individual hardwareresource. For example, the cost calculator 310 may determine a cost fora HDD storage unit in the HDD storage pool 140 based on multiplying abase cost (e.g., a cost corresponding to a price per hour of operation,etc.) by a weight factor. In some examples, the cost calculator 310calculates a cost for a hardware resource type. For example, the costcalculator 310 may calculate a total cost for the first HDD storage set142 based on calculating a sum of each corresponding individual HDDstorage unit cost. In some examples, the cost calculator 310 calculatesa cost for an entire hardware configuration. For example, the costcalculator 310 may calculate a total cost of hardware resources for aworkload domain option. In such an example, the cost calculator 310 maycalculate a total cost based on the costs of the compute node A 130, thecompute node B 132, the compute node C 134, the compute node D 136, thecompute node E 138, the first, second, and third HDD storage sets 142,144, 146, the first, second, and third flash storage sets 152, 154, 156,and the first, second, and third GPU sets 162, 164, 166 of FIG. 1.

In some examples, the cost calculator 310 determines whether a cost fora hardware configuration satisfies a threshold. In such examples, thecost calculator 310 compares a calculated cost (e.g., a total hardwarecost) to a cost budget threshold (e.g., a user-specified cost budget,etc.) and determines whether the calculated cost satisfies the costbudget threshold (e.g., is within the cost budget). In such examples,the cost calculator 310 generates an error when the calculated costexceeds the cost budget threshold (e.g., the calculated cost exceeds theuser-specified cost budget, etc.).

In the illustrated example of FIG. 3, the workload domain manager 110includes the option ranker 320 to rank one or more options generated bythe option generator 300. In some examples, the option ranker 320 ranksa null set when no options are generated by the option generator 300. Insuch examples, the option ranker 320 sets a flag (e.g., a flag incomputer readable instructions, etc.) to be analyzed or read by theerror analyzer 330 to generate an error. In some examples, the optionranker 320 ranks the one or more options based on hardware resourcecost, a number of hardware resources, etc. In some examples, the optionranker 320 selects one or more hardware resources based on the one ormore hardware resources being included in the highest ranked option. Forexample, the option ranker 320 may select the first HDD storage set 142to be allocated to a workload domain based on the first HDD storage set142 being included in the highest ranked option for storage options forexecuting an application.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 3, the workload domain manager 110includes the error analyzer 330 to analyze an error generated by theoption generator 300, the option ranker 320, etc. For example, the erroranalyzer 330 may determine that an error generated by the optiongenerator 300 indicates that a number of hardware resources needed isgreater than a number of available hardware resources. In such anexample, the error analyzer 330 may determine that the error generatedby the option generator 300 indicates that a number of GPUs needed isgreater than a number of GPUs in the GPU pool 160 of FIG. 1. In anotherexample, the error analyzer 330 may determine that an error generated bythe option generator 300 indicates that a total hardware cost for ahardware configuration to meet user requirements is greater than thecost budget allocated by the user. In yet another example, the erroranalyzer 330 may determine that an error generated by the option ranker320 indicates that there are no options for the option ranker 320 torank. Additionally or alternatively, any other type of error may beanalyzed, categorized, characterized, etc., by the example erroranalyzer 330.

While an example manner of implementing the example workload domainmanager 110 of FIG. 1 is illustrated in FIG. 3, one or more of theelements, processes and/or devices illustrated in FIG. 3 may becombined, divided, re-arranged, omitted, eliminated and/or implementedin any other way. Further, the example resource demand analyzer 112, theexample option generator 300, the example cost calculator 310, theexample option ranker 320, the example error analyzer 330 and/or, moregenerally, the example workload domain manger 110 may be implemented byhardware, software, firmware and/or any combination of hardware,software and/or firmware. Thus, for example, any of the example resourcedemand analyzer 112, the example option generator 300, the example costcalculator 310, the example option ranker 320, the example erroranalyzer 330 and/or, more generally, the example workload domain manger110 could be implemented by one or more analog or digital circuit(s),logic circuits, programmable processor(s), application specificintegrated circuit(s) (ASIC(s)), programmable logic device(s) (PLD(s))and/or field programmable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)). When reading any ofthe apparatus or system claims of this patent to cover a purely softwareand/or firmware implementation, at least one of the example resourcedemand analyzer, the example option generator 300, the example costcalculator 310, the example option ranker 320, and/or the example erroranalyzer 330 is/are hereby expressly defined to include a non-transitorycomputer readable storage device or storage disk such as a memory, adigital versatile disk (DVD), a compact disk (CD), a Blu-ray disk, etc.including the software and/or firmware. Further still, the exampleworkload domain manager 110 of FIG. 1 may include one or more elements,processes and/or devices in addition to, or instead of, thoseillustrated in FIG. 3, and/or may include more than one of any or all ofthe illustrated elements, processes and devices.

FIG. 4 is an example block diagram of the example hardware manager 120of FIG. 1 that can be implemented in accordance with the teachings ofthis disclosure. The example hardware manager 120 is provided toprovision, maintain, allocate, and/or manage physical hardware resourcesfor use by a virtual server rack for provisioning and allocating logicalresources. The example hardware manager 120 includes the exampleresource discoverer 122 of FIG. 1, the example resource allocator 124 ofFIG. 1, an example resource deallocator 400, and an example resourcestatus analyzer 410.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 4, the hardware manager 120 includesthe resource discoverer 122 to discover or poll available hardwareresources in one or more hardware resource pools. For example, thehardware manager 120 may poll the HDD storage pool 140, the flashstorage pool 150, the GPU pool 160, etc., and/or a combination thereofto determine hardware resources not allocated to a workload domain.Additionally or alternatively, the resource discoverer 122 may pollhardware resources that are allocated to a workload domain.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 4, the hardware manager 120 includesthe resource allocator 124 to add a hardware resource to a workloaddomain during an initial deployment of the workload domain. For example,the resource allocator 124 may add the first HDD storage set 142 to thesame workload domain as the compute node A 130. In some examples, theresource allocator 124 adds a hardware resource to an existing workloaddomain. For example, the resource allocator 124 may add an additionalHDD storage unit, an additional flash storage unit, an additional GPU,etc., to an existing workload domain. In some examples, the hardwaremanager 120 recomposes the workload domain when a hardware resource isadded to the workload domain.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 4, the hardware manager 120 includesthe resource deallocator 400 to remove a hardware resource from aworkload domain during an initial deployment of the workload domain. Forexample, a user may adjust one or more requirements via the userinterface 200 of FIG. 2 causing a contraction in the workload domainduring the initial deployment. For example, the resource deallocator 400may remove the first HDD storage set 142 from the same workload domainas the compute node A 130. In some examples, the resource deallocator400 removes a hardware resource from an existing workload domain. Forexample, the resource deallocator 400 may remove an HDD unit from thefirst HDD storage set 142 or may remove the first HDD storage set 142 inits entirety after the workload domain has been deployed. In someexamples, to decompose a workload domain, the hardware manager 120 usesthe resource deallocator 400 to remove hardware resources from theworkload domain.

In the illustrated example of FIG. 4, the hardware manager 120 includesthe resource status analyzer 410 to determine an operational status ofone or more hardware resources, detect a non-responsive status of one ormore hardware resources, etc. For example, the resource status analyzer410 may obtain an operational status from a flash storage unit in thefirst flash storage set 152 of FIG. 1. The operational status mayinclude an active status that indicates that the flash storage unit isfunctioning correctly. Alternatively, the operational status may includea non-responsive status that indicates that the hardware resource isnon-operational, not responding to a command or query, etc. In responseto determining that a hardware resource is non-responsive, the exampleresource status analyzer 410 may direct the resource deallocator 400 toremove the non-responsive hardware resource from the workload domain.

In some examples, the resource status analyzer 410 monitors theavailability, the performance, and/or the capacity of a deployedworkload domain and compares the availability, the performance, and/orthe capacity to the user requirements. For example, the resource statusanalyzer 410 may determine that the first HDD storage set 142 is beingunderutilized due to excess storage in a corresponding workload domain.In such an example, the resource status analyzer 410 may direct theresource deallocator 400 to remove one or more HDD storage units fromthe first HDD storage set 142. In other examples, the resource statusanalyzer 410 may determine that the compute node A 130, the compute nodeB 132, and the compute node C 134 are heavily loaded and need more CPUprocessing power. In such examples, the resource status analyzer 410 maydirect the resource allocator 124 to add the compute node D 136, thecompute node E 138, etc., to the deployed workload domain.

In some examples, the resource status analyzer 410 selects a hardwareresource type to process. For example, the resource status analyzer 410may select the HDD storage pool 140, the flash storage pool 150, the GPUpool 160, etc., to process. In some examples, the resource statusanalyzer 410 determines whether there is another hardware resource typeto process. For example, the resource status analyzer 410 may determinethat the flash storage pool 150 has yet to be processed. In someexamples, the resource status analyzer 410 selects a non-responsivehardware resource to process. In some examples, the resource statusanalyzer 410 determines whether there is another non-responsive hardwareresource to process.

While an example manner of implementing the hardware manager 120 of FIG.1 is illustrated in FIG. 4, one or more of the elements, processesand/or devices illustrated in FIG. 4 may be combined, divided,re-arranged, omitted, eliminated and/or implemented in any other way.Further, the example resource discoverer 122, the example resourceallocator 124, the example resource deallocator 400, the exampleresource status analyzer 410 and/or, more generally, the examplehardware manager 120 of FIG. 1 may be implemented by hardware, software,firmware and/or any combination of hardware, software and/or firmware.Thus, for example, any of the example resource discoverer 122, theexample resource allocator 124, the example resource deallocator 400,the example resource status analyzer 410 and/or, more generally, theexample hardware manager 120 could be implemented by one or more analogor digital circuit(s), logic circuits, programmable processor(s),application specific integrated circuit(s) (ASIC(s)), programmable logicdevice(s) (PLD(s)) and/or field programmable logic device(s) (FPLD(s)).When reading any of the apparatus or system claims of this patent tocover a purely software and/or firmware implementation, at least one ofthe example resource discoverer 122, the example resource allocator 124,the example resource deallocator 400, and/or the example resource statusanalyzer 410 is/are hereby expressly defined to include a non-transitorycomputer readable storage device or storage disk such as a memory, adigital versatile disk (DVD), a compact disk (CD), a Blu-ray disk, etc.including the software and/or firmware. Further still, the examplehardware manager 120 of FIG. 1 may include one or more elements,processes and/or devices in addition to, or instead of, thoseillustrated in FIG. 4, and/or may include more than one of any or all ofthe illustrated elements, processes and devices.

Flowcharts representative of example machine readable instructions forimplementing the example requirement manager 102 of FIGS. 1-2, theexample workload domain manager 110 of FIGS. 1 and 3, and/or the examplehardware manager 120 of FIGS. 1 and 4 are shown in FIGS. 5-7. In theseexamples, the machine readable instructions implement one or moreprograms for execution by a processor such as the processors 812, 912,1012 shown in the example processor platforms 800, 900, 1000 discussedbelow in connection with FIGS. 8-10. The program(s) may be embodied insoftware stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage mediumsuch as a CD-ROM, a floppy disk, a hard drive, a digital versatile disk(DVD), a Blu-ray disk, or a memory associated with the processors 812,912, 1012, but the entire program and/or parts thereof couldalternatively be executed by a device other than the processors 812,912, 1012 and/or embodied in firmware or dedicated hardware. Further,although the example program(s) is/are described with reference to theflowcharts illustrated in FIGS. 5-7, many other methods of implementingthe example requirement manager 102, the example workload domain manager110, and/or the example hardware manager 120 may alternatively be used.For example, the order of execution of the blocks may be changed, and/orsome of the blocks described may be changed, eliminated, or combined.Additionally or alternatively, any or all of the blocks may beimplemented by one or more hardware circuits (e.g., discrete and/orintegrated analog and/or digital circuitry, a Field Programmable GateArray (FPGA), an Application Specific Integrated circuit (ASIC), acomparator, an operational-amplifier (op-amp), a logic circuit, etc.)structured to perform the corresponding operation without executingsoftware or firmware.

As mentioned above, the example processes of FIGS. 5-7 may beimplemented using coded instructions (e.g., computer and/or machinereadable instructions) stored on a non-transitory computer and/ormachine readable medium such as a hard disk drive, a flash memory, aread-only memory, a compact disk, a digital versatile disk, a cache, arandom-access memory and/or any other storage device or storage disk inwhich information is stored for any duration (e.g., for extended timeperiods, permanently, for brief instances, for temporarily buffering,and/or for caching of the information). As used herein, the termnon-transitory computer readable medium is expressly defined to includeany type of computer readable storage device and/or storage disk and toexclude propagating signals and to exclude transmission media.“Including” and “comprising” (and all forms and tenses thereof) are usedherein to be open ended terms. Thus, whenever a claim lists anythingfollowing any form of “include” or “comprise” (e.g., comprises,includes, comprising, including, etc.), it is to be understood thatadditional elements, terms, etc. may be present without falling outsidethe scope of the corresponding claim. As used herein, when the phrase“at least” is used as the transition term in a preamble of a claim, itis open ended in the same manner as the term “comprising” and“including” are open ended.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart representative of an example method 500 that maybe performed by the example requirement manager 102 of FIGS. 1-2, theexample workload domain manager 110 of FIGS. 1 and 3, and/or the examplehardware manager 120 of FIGS. 1 and 4 to generate and manage a workloaddomain in virtual server racks. The example method 500 begins at block502 when the example requirement manager 102 obtains applicationrequirements from a user. For example, the user interface 200 (FIG. 2)may obtain user selections corresponding to availability options,performance options, capacity options, etc.

At block 504, the example requirement manager 102 maps applicationrequirements to hardware resources. For example, the requirementtranslator 104 (FIGS. 1-2) may map a user selection for a performanceoption to one or more CPUs, HDD storage units, flash storage units,GPUs, etc., (e.g., hardware resources in the HDD storage pool 140, theflash storage pool 150, and/or the GPU pool 160 of FIG. 1).Alternatively, the example requirement translator 104 may map a userselection to a default configuration in the database 180 of FIG. 1.

At block 506, the example workload domain manager 110 calculates ahardware resource cost based on hardware resource demand. For example,the cost calculator 310 (FIG. 3) may calculate a hardware resource costfor a number of SSDs in a generated hardware configuration. In such anexample, the cost calculator 310 may calculate a SSD hardware resourcecost by multiplying a number of SSD hardware resources by a weightfactor, where the weight factor is determined based on one or moreavailability metrics calculated by the resource demand analyzer 112(FIG. 1). An example process that may be used to implement block 506 isdescribed below in connection with FIG. 6.

At block 508, the example workload domain manager 110 determines whethera hardware resource cost exceeds a cost-budget. For example, the costcalculator 310 may compare a total hardware cost to a user-specifiedcost budget and determine that the total hardware cost exceeds the costbudget (e.g., the total hardware cost does not satisfy theuser-specified cost budget threshold, etc.).

If, at block 508, the example workload domain manager 110 determinesthat the hardware resource cost does not exceed the cost budget, controlproceeds to block 512 to determine whether to deploy a workload domain.If, at block 508, the example workload domain manager 110 determinesthat the hardware resource cost exceeds the cost budget, then, at block510, the example requirement manager 102 generates an alert. Forexample, the alert generator 210 may generate an alert and direct theuser interface 200 to display the alert indicating that there are noworkload domain options that satisfy the user-specified requirementsand/or are within the cost budget. In response to the generation of thealert, the example user interface 200 may prompt the user for a changein requirements, a change in the cost budget, etc.

At block 512, the example requirement manager 102 determines whether todeploy a workload domain. For example, the user interface 200 may promptthe user to choose a generated workload domain option, recommendation,etc., for deployment. In such an example, in response to the userchoosing one of the generated workload domain options, the requirementmanager 102 may direct the resource allocator 124 to initiate deploymentof the user-selected workload domain option. Alternatively, the examplerequirement manager 102 may bypass the user interface 200 and choose oneof the generated workload domain options via an automated execution.

If, at block 512, the example requirement manager 102 determines todeploy the workload domain, then, at block 514, the example hardwaremanager 120 deploys the workload domain. For example, the resourceallocator 124 (FIGS. 1 and 4) may allocate one or more hardwareresources such as CPUs, HDD storage units, flash storage units, GPUs,etc., to the workload domain based on a workload domain option generatedby the option generator 300 (FIG. 3). If, at block 512, the examplerequirement manager 102 determines not to deploy the workload domain,then the example method 500 concludes.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart representative of an example method 600 that maybe performed by the example workload domain manager 110 of FIGS. 1 and 3and the hardware manager 120 of FIGS. 1 and 4 to calculate a hardwareresource cost for a hardware configuration to deploy a workload domainin virtual server racks. The example process of FIG. 6 may be used toimplement the operation of block 506 of FIG. 5. The example method 600begins at block 602 when the example workload domain manager 110 selectsa resource type to process. For example, the resource demand analyzer112 (FIGS. 1 and 3) may select the HDD storage pool 140 of FIG. 1 toprocess.

At block 604, the example hardware manager 120 discovers availableresources for the hardware resource type. For example, the resourcediscoverer 122 (FIGS. 1 and 3) may poll HDD storage units in the HDDstorage pool 140 to determine which HDD storage units are allocated to aworkload domain and which HDD storage units are not allocated to aworkload domain.

At block 606, the example workload domain manager 110 calculatesavailability metric(s). For example, the resource demand analyzer 112may determine an HDD storage unit availability percentage based oncalculating an available number of HDD storage units with respect to atotal number of HDD storage units in the HDD storage pool 140.

At block 608, the example workload domain manager 110 compares theavailability metric(s) to historical data. For example, the resourcedemand analyzer 112 may compare the HDD storage unit availabilitypercentage during a first time period to the HDD storage unitavailability percentage during one or more previous time periods (e.g.,during a second time period, during a third time period, etc., where thesecond and the third time periods are time periods that precede thefirst time period).

At block 610, the example workload domain manager 110 adjusts a weightfactor. For example, the resource demand analyzer 112 may calculate anadjusted HDD storage unit weight factor based on the HDD storage unitavailability percentage during the first time period and/or the one ormore preceding time periods.

At block 612, the example workload domain manager 110 determines whetherthere is another hardware resource type to process. For example, theresource demand analyzer 112 may determine that the flash storage pool150, the GPU pool 160, etc., have yet to be processed.

If, at block 612, the example workload domain manager 110 determinesthat there is another hardware resource type to process, control returnsto block 602 to select another hardware resource type to process. If, atblock 612, the example workload domain manager 110 determines that thereis not another hardware resource type to process, control proceeds toblock 614 to calculate a hardware resource cost. For example, the costcalculator 310 (FIG. 3) may calculate a total hardware resource cost fora hardware configuration based on a number of hardware resources foreach hardware resource type, the adjusted weight factor for eachcorresponding hardware resource type, etc.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart representative of an example method 700 that maybe performed by the example hardware manager 120 of FIGS. 1 and 4 tomanage a workload domain in virtual server racks. The example method 700begins at block 702 when the example hardware manager 120 selects ahardware resource type to process. For example, the resource statusanalyzer 410 (FIG. 4) may select the flash storage pool 150 of FIG. 1 toprocess.

At block 704, the example hardware manager 120 obtains a status ofhardware resource(s). For example, the resource status analyzer 410 maypoll each flash storage unit in the flash storage pool 150 to obtain anoperational status (e.g., an active status, a non-operational status,etc.).

At block 706, the example hardware manager 120 determines whether anon-responsive status is detected. For example, the resource statusanalyzer 410 may determine that a flash storage unit in the first flashstorage set 152 of FIG. 1 is non-responsive.

If, at block 706, the example hardware manager 120 does not detect anon-responsive status, control proceeds to block 718 to determinewhether there is another hardware resource type to process. If, at block706, the example hardware manager 120 detects a non-responsive status,at block 708, the hardware manager 120 selects a non-responsive hardwareresource to process. For example, the resource status analyzer 410 mayselect a non-responsive flash storage unit in the first flash storageset 152 to process.

At block 710, the example hardware manager 120 deallocates the selectednon-responsive hardware resource. For example, the resource deallocator400 (FIG. 4) may deallocate the selected non-responsive flash storageunit in the first flash storage set 152 from the workload domain.

At block 712, the example hardware manager 120 discovers an availablehardware resource. For example, the resource discoverer 122 may polleach flash storage unit in the flash storage pool 150 to locate anavailable flash storage unit that can replace the non-responsive flashstorage unit.

At block 714, the example hardware manager 120 allocates a replacementhardware resource. For example, the resource allocator 124 may add anavailable flash storage unit discovered at block 712 to the workplacedomain. In such an example, the available flash storage unit may beadded to the first flash storage set 152.

At block 716, the example hardware manager 120 determines whether thereis another non-responsive hardware resource to process. For example, theresource status analyzer 410 may determine that there is anothernon-responsive flash storage unit in the first flash storage set 152 toprocess.

If, at block 716, the example hardware manager 120 determines that thereis another non-responsive hardware resource to process, control returnsto block 708 to select another non-responsive hardware resource toprocess. If, at block 716, the example hardware manager 120 determinesthat there is not another non-responsive hardware resource to process,at block 718, the hardware manager 120 determines whether there isanother hardware resource type to process. For example, the resourcestatus analyzer 410 may determine that the HDD storage pool 140, the GPUpool 160, etc., has not yet been processed.

If, at block 718, the example hardware manager 120 determines that thereis another hardware resource type to process, control returns to block702 to select another hardware resource type to process, otherwise theexample method 700 concludes.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram of an example processor platform 800 capableof executing the instructions of FIG. 5 to implement the examplerequirement manager 102 of FIGS. 1-2. The processor platform 800 can be,for example, a server or any other type of computing device.

The processor platform 800 of the illustrated example includes aprocessor 812. The processor 812 of the illustrated example is hardware.For example, the processor 812 can be implemented by one or moreintegrated circuits, logic circuits, microprocessors or controllers fromany desired family or manufacturer. The hardware processor 812 may be asemiconductor based (e.g., silicon based) device. In this example, theprocessor 812 implements the example requirement manager 102 and theexample requirement translator 104 of FIGS. 1-2, and the example userinterface 200 and the example alert generator 210 of FIG. 2.

The processor 812 of the illustrated example includes a local memory 813(e.g., a cache). The processor 812 of the illustrated example is incommunication with a main memory including a volatile memory 814 and anon-volatile memory 816 via a bus 818. The volatile memory 814 may beimplemented by Synchronous Dynamic Random Access Memory (SDRAM), DynamicRandom Access Memory (DRAM), RAMBUS Dynamic Random Access Memory (RDRAM)and/or any other type of random access memory device. The non-volatilememory 816 may be implemented by flash memory and/or any other desiredtype of memory device. Access to the main memory 814, 816 is controlledby a memory controller.

The processor platform 800 of the illustrated example also includes aninterface circuit 820. The interface circuit 820 may be implemented byany type of interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface, auniversal serial bus (USB), and/or a peripheral component interconnect(PCI) express interface.

In the illustrated example, one or more input devices 822 are connectedto the interface circuit 820. The input device(s) 822 permit(s) a userto enter data and/or commands into the processor 812. The inputdevice(s) can be implemented by, for example, an audio sensor, amicrophone, a camera (still or video), a keyboard, a button, a mouse, atouchscreen, a track-pad, a trackball, an isopoint device, and/or avoice recognition system. In some examples, the input device(s) 822implements the example user interface 200.

One or more output devices 824 are also connected to the interfacecircuit 820 of the illustrated example. The output devices 824 can beimplemented, for example, by display devices (e.g., a light emittingdiode (LED), an organic light emitting diode (OLED), a liquid crystaldisplay, a cathode ray tube display (CRT), a touchscreen, a tactileoutput device, a printer and/or speakers). The interface circuit 820 ofthe illustrated example, thus, typically includes a graphics drivercard, a graphics driver chip and/or a graphics driver processor. In someexamples, the output device(s) 824 implements the example user interface200.

The interface circuit 820 of the illustrated example also includes acommunication device such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, amodem and/or network interface card to facilitate exchange of data withexternal machines (e.g., computing devices of any kind) via a network826 (e.g., an Ethernet connection, a digital subscriber line (DSL), atelephone line, coaxial cable, a cellular telephone system, etc.).

The processor platform 800 of the illustrated example also includes oneor more mass storage devices 828 for storing software and/or data.Examples of such mass storage devices 828 include floppy disk drives,hard drive disks, compact disk drives, Blu-ray disk drives, redundantarray of independent disk (RAID) systems, and digital versatile disk(DVD) drives. The example mass storage device 828 implements thedatabase 180 of FIG. 1.

Example coded instructions 832 implement the example machine readableinstructions of FIG. 5 and may be stored in the mass storage device 828,in the volatile memory 814, in the non-volatile memory 816, and/or on aremovable non-transitory computer readable storage medium such as a CDor DVD.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram of an example processor platform 900 capableof executing the instructions of FIGS. 5-6 to implement the exampleworkload domain manager 110 of FIGS. 1 and 3. The processor platform 900can be, for example, a server or any other type of computing device.

The processor platform 900 of the illustrated example includes aprocessor 912. The processor 912 of the illustrated example is hardware.For example, the processor 912 can be implemented by one or moreintegrated circuits, logic circuits, microprocessors or controllers fromany desired family or manufacturer. The hardware processor 912 may be asemiconductor based (e.g., silicon based) device. In this example, theprocessor 912 implements the example workload domain manager 110, andthe example resource demand analyzer 112 of FIGS. 1 and 3, and theexample option generator 300, the example cost calculator 310, theexample option ranker 320, and the example error analyzer 330 of FIG. 3.

The processor 912 of the illustrated example includes a local memory 913(e.g., a cache). The processor 912 of the illustrated example is incommunication with a main memory including a volatile memory 914 and anon-volatile memory 916 via a bus 918. The volatile memory 914 may beimplemented by SDRAM, DRAM, RDRAM, and/or any other type of randomaccess memory device. The non-volatile memory 916 may be implemented byflash memory and/or any other desired type of memory device. Access tothe main memory 914, 916 is controlled by a memory controller.

The processor platform 900 of the illustrated example also includes aninterface circuit 920. The interface circuit 920 may be implemented byany type of interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface, a USB,and/or a PCI express interface.

In the illustrated example, one or more input devices 922 are connectedto the interface circuit 920. The input device(s) 922 permit(s) a userto enter data and/or commands into the processor 912. The inputdevice(s) can be implemented by, for example, an audio sensor, amicrophone, a camera (still or video), a keyboard, a button, a mouse, atouchscreen, a track-pad, a trackball, an isopoint device, and/or avoice recognition system.

One or more output devices 924 are also connected to the interfacecircuit 920 of the illustrated example. The output devices 924 can beimplemented, for example, by display devices (e.g., an LED, an OLED, aliquid crystal display, a CRT, a touchscreen, a tactile output device, aprinter and/or speakers). The interface circuit 920 of the illustratedexample, thus, typically includes a graphics driver card, a graphicsdriver chip and/or a graphics driver processor.

The interface circuit 920 of the illustrated example also includes acommunication device such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, amodem and/or network interface card to facilitate exchange of data withexternal machines (e.g., computing devices of any kind) via a network926 (e.g., an Ethernet connection, a DSL, a telephone line, coaxialcable, a cellular telephone system, etc.).

The processor platform 900 of the illustrated example also includes oneor more mass storage devices 928 for storing software and/or data.Examples of such mass storage devices 928 include floppy disk drives,hard drive disks, compact disk drives, Blu-ray disk drives, RAIDsystems, and DVD drives. The example mass storage device 928 implementsthe database 180 of FIG. 1.

Example coded instructions 932 implement the machine readableinstructions of FIGS. 5-6 and may be stored in the mass storage device928, in the volatile memory 914, in the non-volatile memory 916, and/oron a removable non-transitory computer readable storage medium such as aCD or DVD.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an example processor platform 1000 capableof executing the instructions of FIGS. 5-7 to implement the examplehardware manager of FIGS. 1 and 4. The processor platform 1000 can be,for example, a server or any other type of computing device.

The processor platform 1000 of the illustrated example includes aprocessor 1012. The processor 1012 of the illustrated example ishardware. For example, the processor 1012 can be implemented by one ormore integrated circuits, logic circuits, microprocessors or controllersfrom any desired family or manufacturer. The hardware processor 1012 maybe a semiconductor based (e.g., silicon based) device. In this example,the processor 1012 implements the example hardware manager 120, theexample resource discoverer 122, and the example resource allocator 124of FIGS. 1 and 4, and the example resource deallocator 400 and theexample resource status analyzer 410 of FIG. 4.

The processor 1012 of the illustrated example includes a local memory1013 (e.g., a cache). The processor 1012 of the illustrated example isin communication with a main memory including a volatile memory 1014 anda non-volatile memory 1016 via a bus 1018. The volatile memory 1014 maybe implemented by SDRAM, DRAM, RDRAM and/or any other type of randomaccess memory device. The non-volatile memory 1016 may be implemented byflash memory and/or any other desired type of memory device. Access tothe main memory 1014, 1016 is controlled by a memory controller.

The processor platform 1000 of the illustrated example also includes aninterface circuit 1020. The interface circuit 1020 may be implemented byany type of interface standard, such as an Ethernet interface, a USB,and/or a PCI express interface.

In the illustrated example, one or more input devices 1022 are connectedto the interface circuit 1020. The input device(s) 1022 permit(s) a userto enter data and/or commands into the processor 1012. The inputdevice(s) can be implemented by, for example, an audio sensor, amicrophone, a camera (still or video), a keyboard, a button, a mouse, atouchscreen, a track-pad, a trackball, an isopoint device, and/or avoice recognition system.

One or more output devices 1024 are also connected to the interfacecircuit 1020 of the illustrated example. The output devices 1024 can beimplemented, for example, by display devices (e.g., an LED, an OLED, aliquid crystal display, a CRT, a touchscreen, a tactile output device, aprinter and/or speakers). The interface circuit 1020 of the illustratedexample, thus, typically includes a graphics driver card, a graphicsdriver chip and/or a graphics driver processor.

The interface circuit 1020 of the illustrated example also includes acommunication device such as a transmitter, a receiver, a transceiver, amodem and/or network interface card to facilitate exchange of data withexternal machines (e.g., computing devices of any kind) via a network1026 (e.g., an Ethernet connection, a DSL, a telephone line, coaxialcable, a cellular telephone system, etc.).

The processor platform 1000 of the illustrated example also includes oneor more mass storage devices 1028 for storing software and/or data.Examples of such mass storage devices 1028 include floppy disk drives,hard drive disks, compact disk drives, Blu-ray disk drives, RAIDsystems, and DVD drives. The example mass storage device 1028 implementsthe database 180 of FIG. 1.

Example coded instructions implement the machine readable instructions1032 of FIGS. 5-7 and may be stored in the mass storage device 1028, inthe volatile memory 1014, in the non-volatile memory 1016, and/or on aremovable non-transitory computer readable storage medium such as a CDor DVD.

From the foregoing, it will be appreciated that example methods,apparatus and articles of manufacture have been disclosed that improvean efficiency of executing an application using a virtualized server. Inthe above-disclosed examples, a server can be composed using one or morepooled hardware resources to right-size a virtualized server to meetuser requirements. In the above-disclosed examples, a market-drivenapproach to pricing a pooled hardware resource improves an efficiency ofmaximizing a return on infrastructure investment by allocating pooledhardware resources to one or more workload domains based on a demand forthe pooled hardware resources.

Although certain example methods, apparatus and articles of manufacturehave been disclosed herein, the scope of coverage of this patent is notlimited thereto. On the contrary, this patent covers all methods,apparatus and articles of manufacture fairly falling within the scope ofthe claims of this patent.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus comprising: a requirement translatorto map a requirement to a hardware resource to execute an application ina workload domain; a cost calculator to calculate a cost for thehardware resource based on a demand for the hardware resource; an optiongenerator to determine whether the cost exceeds a cost budget; and aresource allocator to add the hardware resource to the workload domainwhen the cost does not exceed the cost budget.
 2. The apparatus of claim1, wherein calculating the cost includes adjusting a weight factor for ahardware resource type of the hardware resource based on an availabilityof the hardware resource type.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein thedemand for the hardware resource includes calculating an availabilitymetric corresponding to a pool of hardware resources.
 4. The apparatusof claim 1, wherein adding the hardware resource to the workload domainis done after the workload domain has been deployed.
 5. The apparatus ofclaim 1, further including a user interface to prompt a user to adjustthe requirement when the option generator is unable to determine one ormore options for the hardware resource without exceeding the costbudget.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, further including an option rankerto: rank one or more options generated by the option generator based onthe cost budget; and select the hardware resource to be added to theworkload domain based on the hardware resource being included in ahighest ranked one of the options.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, whereinthe requirement translator is to map the requirement via an automatedexecution.
 8. A method comprising: mapping a requirement to a firsthardware resource to execute an application in a workload domain;calculating a cost for the first hardware resource based on a demand forthe first hardware resource; determining whether the cost exceeds a costbudget; and adding the first hardware resource to the workload domainwhen the cost does not exceed the cost budget.
 9. The method of claim 8,wherein calculating the cost includes adjusting a weight factor for ahardware resource type of the first hardware resource based on anavailability of the hardware resource type.
 10. The method of claim 8,wherein the demand for the first hardware resource is based on anavailability metric corresponding to a pool of hardware resources. 11.The method of claim 8, wherein adding the first hardware resource to theworkload domain is done after the workload domain has been deployed. 12.The method of claim 8, further including prompting a user to adjust therequirement when the cost exceeds the cost budget.
 13. The method ofclaim 8, further including: ranking one or more generated options basedon the cost budget; and selecting the hardware resource to be added tothe workload domain based on the hardware resource being included in ahighest ranked one of the options.
 14. The method of claim 8, furtherincluding replacing the first hardware resource with a second hardwareresource of the same hardware resource type when the first hardwareresource is determined to be non-responsive.
 15. The method of claim 8,wherein the mapping is completed via an automated execution.
 16. Anon-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising instructionswhich, when executed, cause a machine to at least: map a requirement toa first hardware resource to execute an application in a workloaddomain; calculate a cost for the first hardware resource based on ademand for the first hardware resource; determine whether the costexceeds a cost budget; and add the first hardware resource to theworkload domain when the cost does not exceed the cost budget.
 17. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16, whereincalculating the cost includes adjusting a weight factor for a hardwareresource type of the first hardware resource based on an availability ofthe hardware resource type.
 18. The non-transitory computer readablestorage medium of claim 16, wherein the demand for the first hardwareresource is based on an availability metric corresponding to a pool ofhardware resources.
 19. The non-transitory computer readable storagemedium of claim 16, wherein adding the first hardware resource to theworkload domain is done after the workload domain has been deployed. 20.The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16, furtherincluding instructions which, when executed, cause the machine to atleast prompt a user to adjust the requirement when the cost exceeds thecost budget.
 21. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium ofclaim 16, further including instructions which, when executed, cause themachine to at least: rank one or more generated options based on a costbudget; and select the hardware resource to be added to the workloaddomain based on the hardware resource being included in a highest rankedone of the options.
 22. The non-transitory computer readable storagemedium of claim 16, further including instructions which, when executed,cause the machine to at least replace the first hardware resource with asecond hardware resource of the same hardware resource type when thefirst hardware resource is determined to be non-responsive.
 23. Thenon-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein themapping is completed via an automated execution.